WICHITA, Kan.—This sun-baked central Kansas city has long been a center of aircraft manufacturing, with sprawling facilities for companies like Textron Inc. and Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. dotting the landscape.

Manufacturing jobs largely supported by aircraft makers have fallen to 52,000 as of June from a high of 69,000 in July 2008, when demand for business jets was hit hard by the financial crisis, prompting a wave of pink slips.